When Airplanes Reminded Me of Salvation
Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?
I could really use a wish right now (wish right now, wish right now)…
Yeah, I could use a dream or a genie or a wish
To go back to a place much simpler than this.
Cause after all the partyin' and smashin' and crashin'
And all the glitz and the glam and the fashion
And all the pandemonium and all the madness
There comes a time where you fade to the blackness…
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I'm pretty sure that these words aren't new to you - right? B.O.B. (ft. Hayley Williams) Airplanes is a hugely popular award winning tune - but did you also know that it was written by a 22 year old college student from Cornell University named Tim Sommers? Oh and Eminem also threw in a verse - so we have this unlikely collaboration of Tim, Eminem, B.O.B., and Hayley that produced a smash hit that gets stuck in your head like the Barney theme song did when you were a kid.
Speaking of when you were a kid, do you ever wish you could go back? Airplanes is mainly about Tim or B.O.B or somebody wanting to go back to a time when things were pure, less complicated, and simpler - so for most of us that would be when we we're children, right?
But now you're not. Friends have changed, life has drama and complications that you never saw coming when you were a child playing hide and seek or sardines in the neighborhood on a lazy summer night. Maybe that's why Airplanes has connected so well with so many…we all could use a wish, and we all sometimes wish we could go back to being children.
And why not? When we were little children, we weren't loaded down with the burdens of worry, peer pressure, rejection, and performance expectations. We put all our trust in people who would love us, provide for us, and take care of us.
Guess what? I don't have to pretend that airplanes were shooting stars in the night sky that I could throw up a wish to, because when I start feeling the strain and stress, I remember this event from Jesus' life:
One day children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus intervened: "Let the children alone, don't prevent them from coming to me. God's kingdom is made up of people like these (Matthew 19:13-15, The Message).
Interesting, isn't it? Jesus' disciples thought He was too important or too busy to waste His time with little kids, but in fact Jesus describes His followers as "people like these."
What did He mean? Easy…when we trust in Jesus Christ as our only hope of salvation, we bring the faith of a child to God, then we become the children of God!
Sure, I have the burdens of worry, peer pressure, rejection, and performance expectations…and when they creep into my soul and darken my life, God reminds me to go back to being His kid. He sits me down like a loving parent and fills my mind with these promises:
See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! (1 John 3:1).
Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions and be satisfied with your present circumstances and with what you have; for He God Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down or relax My hold on you! Assuredly not! (Hebrews 13:5, Amplified Bible).
When you trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, you enter into a Father and child relationship with the God of the universe. So go back to a simpler time, because God's got your back!
And remember your friends who don't know Jesus and are stressed out beyond recognition because life is beating the stuff out of them. Share the gospel message that paints a completely different picture of life: the perfect Father who loves His children and promises to take care of them completely.
Flashpoint: Ignite Into Action
Ask your friends what they think about the song Airplanes and if they ever wish they could go back to a different time. Talk about the very unique nature of Christianity - that when we trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, God becomes our Father and promises to take care of us forever!
Accelerant: Feed the Fire
At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children (Matthew 11:25).
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:1-3).
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me" (Mark 9:35-37).
